PROTECTION OF RIGHTS

OF MINORITIES

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

ASAD MALIK ANAM DANISH
PROFESSOR BA LL.B (hons) S.F
S.NO CONTENTS PG.NO
1 INTRODUCTION 3-4
2 MINORITY 5-6
RIGHTS
3 PERSONAL 7-8
LAWS
4 NATIONAL 9-10
COMMISSION
5 OVERVIEW 11-12
6 CONCLUSION 13-14
7 REFERENCES 15
 INTRODUCTION

The Indian Constitution, which stands for national goals like Democracy, Socialism, Secularism
and National Integration, was framed by the representatives of Indian people after a long period
of debates and discussions. It is the most detailed constitution in the world. No other constitution
has gone into such minute details as the Indian Constitution.
The Indian Constitution ensures “justice, social, economic and political” to all citizens. The
Indian Constitution has adopted measures for the protection of the rights of the religious and
ethnic minorities and of the socially and economically disadvantaged classes such as the
scheduled castes ​and scheduled tribes. The Indian constitution enshrines various provisions for
the protection of the rights and interest of the minorities.1

● India our motherland describes herself as a secular state. No particular religion has been
considered as the vast majority .
● Article 29 give the religious and linguistic minorities right to establish and manage
educational institutions of their own. The minorities have been given the unrestricted
rights to promote and preserve their own culture. Indeed, India is a country of diverse
cultural groups and She is keen to preserve her cultural diversity. Thus for example, even
though, Hindi is made the official language of India, primary education everywhere is
given in the mother tongue. It may be noted that there are over 20 official languages in
India.
● Article 29 expressly forbids discrimination on grounds of race, religion, caste, language,
in admission to educational institutions run by the state or receiving aids from the state.
This means that the doors of all educational institutions run by government or receiving

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 funds from the state are open to all groups of Indians. Linguistic, religious or ethnic
minority students cannot be denied admission to such educational institutions.
● Article 30 is vital to the protection and preservation of rights of the minorities. The
minorities have been given the right to establish and administer educational institutions of
their choice. The state also cannot discriminate against educational institutions
established and managed by the minorities in matters of granting aids. Such educational
institutions however must receive state recognition. The state educational authorities have
the right to regulate such educational institutions because the “​right to manage does not
include the right to mismanage.​”
● Article 16 guarantees that in matters of public employment, no discrimination shall be
made on grounds of race, religion, caste or language etc. This means that in matters of
public employment, all Indians are placed on a footing of equality. Every citizen of India
will get equal employment opportunity in government offices.
● Finally, Article 25 of the Indian constitution guarantees freedom of religion to every
individual. This article of the Indian constitution ensures that the members of the
religious minority community have the unhindered right to follow their own religion. The
state regulates the practice of a religion only when and to the extent it disturbs public
peace. The minority not only has the right to follow their own religion, they also have the
right to propagate it. But the state certainly does and should regulate conversion through
force or temptation. Forcible conversion is forbidden because it transgresses the
individual’s freedom of conscience.
● On the whole, the minorities of all kinds have very secure rights in India which must be a
matter of envy to the minorities elsewhere.2

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 Minority Rights Under The Indian Constitution

Under the Constitution of India, there are various provisions to safeguard the rights of minorities.

Preamble of the Constitution declares India to be a secular state. Article 15 prohibits any sort of

discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, caste, sex, descent, place of birth or residence.

Article 16 also prohibits any sort of discrimination when it comes to public employment, on the

basis of religion, caste, language, race and so on. This guarantees equal employment

opportunities to all the Indian citizens in case of government offices.

The right to profess, practice and propagate any religion has been guaranteed to every person as

a fundamental right under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution. This article allows the minority

communities to follow their beliefs and practices without any hindrance as long as it does not

hamper public order, morality and health of any person. But the State can regulate the secular

activities related to religious practices such as financial, political, economic activities. Article 26

gives the freedom to the religious denominations or any such sections to manage their own

religious affairs including managing institutions for religious and charitable purposes; owning,

acquiring and administering movable and immovable property. Again, this right is subject to

public order, morality and health. Article 27 prohibits any compulsion on citizens to pay taxes,

proceeds of which are to be appropriated in promotion of any particular religion. Article 28

prohibits state funded educational institutions from providing religious instructions unless there
is a requirement in the terms of the endowment or trust, by which the institution has been

established, regarding imparting such religious instruction. It also gives the person attending any

educational institution the right to not participate in any religious instruction imparted by the

institute.

1. In the judgment of In re Kerala Education Bill, the Supreme Court held that the meaning
of the term minority can be construed to a “community which is less than 50% of the
total population” in a defined area.
2. In D.A.V. College v. State of Punjab, it was held that Hindus even though they are
majority in the nation, can be treated as a minority in State of Punjab for the purpose of
conserving their language under Article 29 of the Constitution. Hence, religious or
linguistic minority status should be construed in relation to the legislation which is sought
to be impugned, in case of state legislature, according to the state population.
3. In A.S.E. Trust v. Director, Education, Delhi Administration, it was held that only those
religions such as Muslims, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs etc., which have kept their
identities separated from the majority, i.e., Hindus, can only be considered to be
“minority” based on religion. Not every section of the Hindu religion can be considered
to be minority.3

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 Minority Protection Through Enforcement Of Personal
Laws

Before the colonial rule in India, Personal laws were widely applied in India, including Hindu

laws, Muslim Laws, and Jewish Laws. The British also used the policy of non-interference with

these personal laws. In the contemporary India also, the matters related to marriage, divorce,

succession and family affairs are mostly governed by the personal laws specific to the certain

communities.4

Marriage and divorce of the people from the Christian community are governed by Indian

Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and Section 10 of the Indian Divorce Act, 1869, respectively.

Matrimonial aspects of the Parsis (Zoroastrians) are dealt by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act,

1936 which was amended in 1988 and 2001. The Hindu Marriage Act applies to the Buddhist,

Sikhs and Jains and every other community which is not Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew. In case

of Muslim community, the marriages, divorces and adoption are governed as per the

Mohammedan Law. The Jews follow their own customs which are uncodified and also follow

the general laws applicable to all communities in general.

The Muslim community in India is governed by the Classic Muslim law as well as various

legislations including – the Shariat Application Act, the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act,

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​Raju M.P., ​Minority Rights Myth or Reality
the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, the Wakf Act, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on

Divorce) Act.5

A major debate has been going on in the country regarding the enactment of Uniform Civil Code

which will abolish all the personal laws and bring uniformity in the nation. The judgement of

Mohammad Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum came to be seen as major bone of contention

between various Muslim Organizations and other sects advocating for women’s rights. In this

case, it was held that Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code will supersede the Muslim

Law. Due to fervent protests, the government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights

on Divorce) Bill, preventing Muslim Women from obtaining any relief under Section 125 of the

Criminal Procedure Code.6

5
​ Personal Law, National Portal Content Management Team, available at
http://www.archive.india.gov.in/citizen/lawnorder.php?id=16​.
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 National Commission for Minorities

The National Commission for Minorities was established by the National Commission for

Minorities Act, 1992 to protect minority rights in the country. The commission consists of one

chairperson and six members representing the six minor communities – Muslims, Sikhs,

Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Jains. The Commission performs various functions including

evaluating the development of minority communities under Union and States, ensuring the

safeguard of minority rights as per the Constitutional laws and other legislations, conducting

studies and researches on the matters related to minorities and suggesting measures to

Government on these aspects.

The commission also acts grievance redress forum for persons belonging to minority

communities. The commission calls for reports from concerned authorities after taking

cognizance of complaints. These reports are studied and then recommendations are made by the

commission. These recommendations are not legally binding upon the authorities but State takes

them seriously and implements them. This Commission functions as a civil court in the matters

concerning summoning of witnesses, discovery and production of documents; it receives

evidence of affidavits, requisitions public records and copies, issues commission for examination

of witnesses and documents, and any other prescribed matter in manner same as the civil courts.
Apart from these, the linguistic minorities can take up their grievances to the Commissioner for

Linguistic Minorities that was established in 1957 to comply Article 350 B of the Constitution.

The office of Commissioner submits annual report to the government.7

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 OVERVIEW

Right of a minority to establish educational institutions –

(a) Article – 30 –

Article – 30(1) gives the linguistic or religious minorities the following two rights:

(a) The right to establish, and

(b) The right to administer educational institutions of their choice.

Article – 30(2) bars the state, while granting aid to educational institutions, from discriminating

against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a linguistic

or a religious minority. It mandates that in granting aid to educational institutions, the state shall

not discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the

management of a minority, whether based on religion or language.

The minorities have been given protection under article 30 in order to preserve and strengthen

the integrity and unity of the country. The sphere of general secular education will develop the

commonness of boys and girls of India. This is in the true spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity

through the medium of education. The minorities will feel isolated and separate if they are not

given the protection of article 30 general secular education will open doors of perception and act

as the natural light of mind for our countrymen to live in the whole.

The Supreme Court has pointed out in Ahmedabad St. Xaviers College v. State of Gujarat that

the spirit behind article 30(1) is the conscience of the nation that the minorities, religious as well

as linguistic, are not prohibited from establishing and administering educational institutions of
their choice for the purpose of giving their children the best general education to make them

complete men and women of the country.

(c) What is a Minority?

The expression "minority" has been derived from the Latin word 'minor' and the suffix 'ity' which

means "small in number". According to Encyclopaedia Britannica 'minorities' means 'groups

held together by ties of common descent, language or religious faith and feeling different in these

respects from the majority of the inhabitants of a given political entity". J.A. Laponee in his book

"The Protection to Minority" describes "Minority" as a group of persons having different race,

language or religion from that of majority of inhabitants. In the YearBook on Human Rights

U.N. Publication 1950 ed. minority has been described as non dominant groups having different

religion or linguistic traditions than the majority population.

Article 30(1) uses the terms ‘linguistic’ or ‘religious’ minorities. The word ‘or’ means that a

minority may either be linguistic or religious and that it does not have to be both – a religious

minority as well as linguistic minority. It is sufficient of it is one or the other or both.8

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 Conclusion

India might be called a “melting pot” of cultures, but there are times when the pot gets too hot

and starts brimming with the danger of communal riots. From Gujarat riots in 2002 to the

Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013, India seems to have somewhat stagnated when it comes to

communal tension. Though the law provides adequate measures for the protection of the

minority rights, but the minority communities still face a lot of difficulty in climbing the ladders

of success and development as there is no proper enforcement and implementation of these laws.

Nevertheless, looking at the population of this great nation, it is not surprising that there are

conflicts within the communities. But, what is surprising is the fact that India, being diverse at

each and every step, has brought together so many different communities and the minorities have

not lost their voice in conundrum.

The secularism of the nation needs to be protected and the rights of minority should not pale

beside the rights of majority. Protection of minority can be achieved through proper enforcement

of the laws related to minority communities, keeping the spirit of democracy alive as well as

balancing it with Individual’s rights. The minorities, linguistic or religious, can resort to the

various constitutional and legislative provisions available to them to protect their rights in an

efficient manner.

Thus, just on account of the minority identity of the management, an institute is to be accorded

the minority status, irrespective of whether or not that particular institute is serving the interests

of the minority community in its entirety. It is a well known fact that majority of the institutes

established in the name of minorities are not serving the real interests of the minorities,

especially those of the socially and economically underprivileged sections. Students are admitted

on the basis of their money power and not on the basis of their merit or minority identity. That
will further fasten this process and will serve the interests of the economic minority instead of

the religious and linguistic minorities. So, in order to make these articles and acts free from

ambiguity and illusionary nature help from Court should be taken in a view to remove this

ambiguity. It is very important as development, equality, unity of our country relies on these

articles and acts.9

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 REFERENCES

Books referred

(1) Prof. M.P Jain, Indian Constitutional Law, Wadhwa Publisher Nagpur, 5th edition
reprint 2006.

(2) Dr. J.N. Pandey, Constitutional Law of India, Central Law Agency, 43rd edition 2006.

(3) P.M. Bakshi, The Constitution Law of India, Universal Law Publishing Company, 8th
edition.